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Former Lucasfilm-helmed theater and AV certification organization THX has announced the release of a new Deep Note trailer commemorating the company’s 35th anniversary, which promises to offer a “deeper immersive audio experience” with THX Spatial Audio, a three-dimensional soundscape for headphones. The new trailer can be viewed here on the company’s Twitter feed, where you can also vote on the opener’s name. Otherwise, you can see the one-minute production on the YouTube link below:

“We are thrilled to release the new THX Deep Note trailer to entertainment lovers around the world,” said Min-Liang Tan, THX chief executive officer. “As a nod of appreciation for THX fans and as a bridge to new fans, we’re offering this trailer in THX Spatial Audio with incredible pre-rendered immersive sound. We engaged brilliant and imaginative people to create a remarkable audio-video experience for broad appeal, that looks and sounds the best it can and can be enjoyed where and when people want it‒in the theater, in your home, or on the go from any mobile devices.”

THX says it has employed its own Spatial Audio post-production mixing tools to facilitate multidimensional sound from headphones or earbuds, as well as “spherical harmonics” to achieve the appropriate immersive experience. The trailer is available for THX Certified Cinemas, and for playback in the company’s new PLF format “THX Ultimate Cinema” locations, for which the trailer has also been remastered for better contrast and brightness.

The original Deep Note trailer, sometimes known as “Broadway”, and designed by Dr. Andy Moorer, kicked off a string of 35mm movie openers from 1983 onwards, which included original Lucasfilm Ltd. branding (until THX became an independent entity), and would serve to remind punters that they were sitting in a THX certified theater.

Micho Rutare, writer and director of the trailer and co-founder of American Meme, says, “We hope this trailer ignites people’s imaginations. We want to take the audience on a journey, in under a minute, that both refreshes the iconic THX brand for the millennial generation and initiates audiences into the immersive entertainment experience available with this new technology.”

For more information about the making of the trailer, the production team American Meme, and THX Spatial Audio, click here.

HTF News Editor

THX had the chance to rule the world when it came to theatrical audio, premium large format cinema, and the evolution of residential AV.

Unfortunately the management thought it was more prudent to pour the company's resources into car audio and headphone technology in the early 2000s after Lucasfilm sold the division, completely diluting the core message in the process.

They took their eye off the ball and are pretty much a spent force now (pardon the pun).

When Lucasfilm sold off their remaining shares of THX to Creative Labs in the mid-2000s that was pretty much the end. Few, if any, theaters these days are built to their certification specs, and most of the ones that were in the 80s and 90s chose not to renew. Its dead.

Second Unit

When Lucasfilm sold off their remaining shares of THX to Creative Labs in the mid-2000s that was pretty much the end. Few, if any, theaters these days are built to their certification specs, and most of the ones that were in the 80s and 90s chose not to renew. Its dead.

Well they do certify all of Cinemark’s XD theaters. But that’s only the Cinemark chain. Also they just announced the first official THX PLF theater which is coming soon. They had a q and a on Facebook last year and I asked if they were going to get back into certifying Blu Ray’s and 4K discs. No response. Seems like they are just interested in certifying concert tours like Beyonce’s Formation tour and Arrowsmith’s Vegas residency. But hey, I love my Logitech THX certified home theater system. Not Atmos but for the price it’s awesome. Wish Lucasfilm never sold.